Barrett Township pharmacist accused of drug trafficking

A pharmacist at CVS in Mountainhome was arrested Thursday after he delivered a controlled substance to a confidential informant, according to Barrett Township Police.

MARTA GOUGER

A pharmacist at CVS in Mountainhome was arrested Thursday after he delivered a controlled substance to a confidential informant, according to Barrett Township Police.

Frank Mordente, 64, of Tobyhanna, was arrested by members of the Office of Attorney General and Barrett Township Police.

He was charged with delivery of a controlled substance, obstructing administration of law or other governmental function, and hindering apprehension or prosecution.

Mordente was arrested during a traffic stop, after he delivered 22 tablets of Diazepam, a generic for Valium, to Michael Abuiso in the Cresco area, according to court papers.

During the search of his vehicle, several bags containing prescriptions and controlled substances were recovered, according to the criminal complaint.

Mordente told police a vial of Diazepam was for his wife. The quantity on the bottle's label said 30, but police counted the pills and found 38. Mordente, a pharmacist for 30 years, admitted he did not have a prescription for the pills.

He said he filled a prescription for Abuiso. "He didn't even know how many he gave him, he just poured them out of the prescription vial," according to police.

He said he knew Abuiso's prescription was not valid but he delivered them anyway, according to the police report.

In February, Barrett police began investigating Abuiso and his wife, Stephanie, after another pharmacist at the store did an audit and found the illegal prescriptions. Mordente found out about it and warned Abuiso.

Police obtained a search warrant to obtain evidence that the Abuisos used fraudulent prescriptions to illegally obtain medication from the CVS in Mountainhome as well as other CVS pharmacies in Monroe County.

Abuiso told police that Mordente filled the illegal scripts for him.

In March, Barrett Township Police were called to the CVS by another pharmacist who noticed a fraudulent signature on a prescription for Percocet presented by Michele Ingram of Stroudsburg.

On March 11, Ingram was arrested at her home. She told police when she went to the store, she spoke with the "head pharmacist named Frank." She said he told her the prescription was a fraud.

According to the complaint, Mordente said, "I should call the police and have you arrested, that's what I'm suppose to do. I am going to be a nice guy and let you walk out and go.'"

He told her goodbye and not to come back, the complaint said.

Mordente did not call police. He later admitted that he alerted Ingram that the police were investigating her.

He also admitted alerting the Abuisos that the police were investigating them.

In conjunction with Mordente's arrest, agents of the Office of Attorney General and CVS corporate officials initiated an immediate audit of the store's records and scheduled narcotics for security purposes.

CVS released the following statement Friday afternoon: "We are fully cooperating with the authorities in their investigation of a pharmacist who was employed by CVS/pharmacy. His alleged activities are a violation of our values, our policies and our commitment to prevent prescription fraud and he is no longer employed by our company. It is important to note that patient safety was never jeopardized in this matter."

Magistrate John Whitesell of Mountainhome set bail at $125,000. Mordente posted bail Friday, according to court records.